Chapter 58 [Entering the Church to Save People]
On the day of Count Salle’s birthday, Golden Oak was even more lively than Mela had imagined.
When she came down from the second floor, she found that the hostel lobby was full of guests.
“Mena, Ethan left early with his goods. He specially ordered you a cream of mushroom soup and white bread. But there are no empty tables right now. If you don’t mind, come with Owen to the kitchen.”
Neff was keeping accounts behind the counter when he suddenly saw Mela and called out to her, also stopping Owen who was carrying a teapot toward the kitchen.
Mela certainly didn't mind eating in the kitchen.
She followed Owen into the cramped kitchen.
Irving quickly put the kettle aside, added firewood to the stove, and then brought her a bowl of thick cream of mushroom soup and a piece of white bread cut into the size of a palm on a tray.
Mela took the tray with one hand and used the other to pick up a spoon and take a sip of soup, surprised to find that it was still a little warm.
“Uncle Ethan specifically told me to keep your breakfast warm with the ashes from the fire.” Owen, who didn’t seem to talk much, suddenly blurted out, as if he wanted to say a good word about his dear Uncle Ethan in front of Mela.
Mela chuckled. "Oh, I see. Thank you, and thank you Ethan too."
Owen opened his mouth, feeling that Mela's reaction seemed a bit off, but since he was always called "stupid tongue" by Neff, he didn't know what else he could say on Ethan's behalf to win Mela's favor, so he could only close his mouth tightly again.
On the contrary, Mela seemed to suddenly become interested in sex, asking Irving several questions.
For example, does his family always live in Golden Oak City? Does he know where the fun places in the city are?
Irving secretly breathed a sigh of relief. These were questions that guests often asked, and he was already able to answer them with ease.
"Have any strange things happened in the city recently?" Mela suddenly asked.
"Something strange?" Owen scratched his face, puzzled, but forgot that his hands were still covered in coal dust, and he accidentally rubbed a black mark on his face.
He hurriedly wiped the black marks off his face with his sleeve, while answering Mela's question, "I'm sorry, I help out at the inn every day, so I don't know if anything strange has happened in the city."
"It's alright, I was just asking casually." Mela smiled and placed the used dishes on an empty corner of the stove before heading out to take a look at the street.
As expected, the streets were packed with people. Mela squeezed into the crowd, and every now and then she could hear a gasp, probably someone had been accidentally stepped on. But in this situation, the unfortunate person could only accept their bad luck.
Mela was always lucky and successfully explored the main streets of Golden Oak City. She continued walking towards the most prominent building in the city, the church.
The church in Golden Oak City was clearly rolling in wealth, attracting the attention of everyone who entered the city with its most magnificent decorations. At the same time, the clean lines of the white marble and the perfectly fitted walls highlighted a unique sense of neatness and grandeur, which perfectly balanced the extravagant atmosphere brought by the golden splendor.
Mela stopped at a small stall not far from the church, without going any closer. This wasn't the best time for her to enter the church; she should first observe how to quickly bypass the front of the church and reach the buildings behind it.
Having a general idea of what was going on, Mela turned and left without looking back.
"Young Master, what are you looking at?" Luni walked out of the church and saw Kren standing tall in front of the church gate, staring at a certain spot. He couldn't help but ask in confusion.
“I think I saw that red-haired woman,” Kren said, narrowing his eyes.
"Which red-haired woman?" Looney didn't react for a moment.
Although red hair is not a common feature, it is not particularly unusual in larger towns; about ten out of every hundred people have red hair of varying shades.
Therefore, when Kren suddenly mentioned a red-haired woman, Luni found it difficult to connect his words with the woman they had met in Black Sheep Town.
Kren glanced at Luni speechlessly, "That's the woman who kidnapped my Little Grey."
"Oh, it's her. She's in Golden Oak City too?" Looney finally remembered her.
“I am confident that I will not be wrong,” Kren said.
So she really did come to Golden Oak City. Looney nodded thoughtfully.
"But there's nothing strange about that. I gave her a large sum of money, enough for her to start a small business here."
"...Is that what I wanted to ask? Why should I care what she did with the money?" Kren took a deep breath, feeling his temples throbbing because of Looney's words.
"Isn't that right?" Looney was also puzzled.
"...Never mind, let's talk about the inspection issue instead."
"Then I may have to tell you some not-so-good news. For some reason, Bishop Ebner went to Radcliffe Manor ahead of time, and we have to wait for him to return before we can inspect the goods."
"When will he be back?" Kren frowned, looking quite impatient.
"I don't know about that," Looney said, spreading his hands helplessly.
In terms of status, Bishop Ebner was not someone who could be on equal footing with them, so how could he possibly reveal his whereabouts to them so easily?
Not to mention that Bishop Ebna took the initiative to do this deal with them, so their position can be described as very passive.
"...I understand. Let's go back first." Kren clenched his fist for a moment, then quickly relaxed it, his face more sour than ever before.
*
Night fell quickly, but Mela did not return to the inn. Before leaving, she had instructed Silas to fly out of the window as soon as it got dark and to meet them near the church if she could successfully rescue Erica.
Just then, Mela stood at the street corner with a hot pie in her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a white figure flying by and immediately realized that it was Silas.
So she quickly finished the pie, slipped out from around the corner without a sound, and headed straight for the church.
Because she had drunk the invisibility potion, Mela was currently undetectable to those around her. However, the invisibility potion's effects only lasted for three hours, so Mela had to hurry.
Following the route she had planned during the day, she passed through the church gate, bypassed the outermost chapel, and made her way to the complex of buildings behind it.
The rows of similar rooms, arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, formed an impressive building, which made Mela's search quite difficult.
She couldn't search room by room.
Even if you spend three hours searching, you still won't be able to finish.
Thinking of this, Mela reached for the bag at her waist and accurately found the Seed of Life.
In the past few days, it has sprouted several more bright green shoots, indicating that Erika's vitality is waning even more severely.
But it also increases the possibility that Mela can sense Erica through it.
For now, Mela can only rely on her so-called intuition and the connection between the Seed of Life and Erica to constantly change the direction she is heading.
However, the connection was very vague. Mela could only vaguely sense whether she was closer to Erica or further away from her. She took many detours because of this and almost bumped into a priest in a hurry at the corner of a corridor.
Mela quickly took a step back, covering her mouth with her hand to suppress the instinctive gasp.
"Strange? I think I just heard a breathing sound?" The priest stopped and looked around, only to find himself alone in the empty corridor. Where did the second breathing sound come from? Perhaps it was just his imagination.
He comforted himself with this thought, then quickly picked up his feet and walked away again.
Only then did Mela continue walking in the direction he had come from.
As she walked, Mela found herself in a place that resembled a garden.
She still felt that Erica was a distance away from her.
Surely she couldn't have gone to the wrong place, and Erica wasn't at the church?
Mela thought suspiciously.
But she quickly dismissed her idea, insisting that she had to check the ground first.
But as far as the eye could see, the vast garden was filled with swaying flowers, and Mela couldn't conjure up a shovel out of thin air to dig on the spot.
Besides, the commotion was so great that it was bound to attract other people.
Mela had no choice but to calm herself down and carefully walk around the garden, trying to find any suspicious clues.
Sure enough, they found signs of loose soil under a swing.
What's wrong with the church people? Why would they hide a basement in a place like this? Mela thought to herself, her mind filled with complicated feelings.
However, just as she was about to take action and try to find the door hidden underground in the basement, she suddenly heard footsteps in the distance.
Mela had no choice but to retreat to a corner and observe the situation for the time being.
By the moonlight, it was clear that this group of people did not belong to the church, and it was a mystery how they had managed to sneak in.
But perhaps they were also afraid of being discovered, so they quickly focused on a certain spot and started digging. Soon they dug away the thin layer of soil covering the wooden door, revealing the rusty pull ring.
A tall man stepped forward, took out a bronze key, and gently turned it into the lock.
Then two people came out from the left and right, and with great effort opened the door, revealing a dark and deep passage.
"Boss, are you sure Ebna has secretly hidden several tons of gold here?"
Before everyone left, one of the men couldn't help but ask.
"Nonsense, if I didn't know this news was absolutely true, would I have gone to all this trouble, bribing church people and bringing you guys here to dig dirt? Alright, stop rambling. That old bastard Ebna finally left the church, let's hurry down and move the gold." The man carrying the key spat and took the lead down the stairs.
The others immediately followed him down, leaving only the dark entrance to the passage and a ring of newly dug soil around it.
At this moment, Mela, who was hiding in the corner, realized that she had come to the wrong place. Even if there was a basement here, it was not the basement where Erica was being held.
Damn it, the invisibility potion only lasts for an hour and a half, and she doesn't know where to go back to start looking again.
It's like walking into a maze; if you take the wrong turn, you can never find the path you came from before.
Thinking of this, Mela gritted her teeth and released her hand from the bag. This time, she would rely entirely on her intuition, hoping to get a different result through her instincts.
Meanwhile, at Redcliffe Manor, Earl Salley's attempts to persuade him to stay were unsuccessful, and he could only watch as Bishop Ebner boarded the carriage and headed back towards Golden Oak.
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